Dances of India

Dance is an art form which everyone loves to do, but only a few master it. India is a cultural country with various cultures, traditions and dance forms, viz; Bharatnatyam, Kathak, Odissi, Manipuri, Kuchipudi, and Kathakali to name a few. To keep our culture alive these old dance forms play a very vital role.We should make the effort to keep these dance forms alive which makes our country rich in its cultural aspect apart from other beautiful tradition and culture that we have in our country.

Dance: Dance is a medium of expression. When dance becomes a passion one feels liberated, free, happy, positive, and energetic. Dance helps build stamina, lifts ones spirits and helps one lead a healthy life.

Any dance form can be rejuvenating, full of fun and a mode of exercise too.It is good to practice any dance form as it relieves our stress that we get from our day to day activities.A one-two hour of dance leaves us happy and we are ready to take the world again.It does act as a stress buster and also we get to learn so much more through dance like we learn and understand about music and its intricacies to some extent, its meaning and how it relates to the dance that we do.Dance teaches us how to synchronize and do things at a particular time and if it is a group dance timing becomes very important, which again can be related to the things that we do in our lives.

Bharatnatyam: Bharatnatyam is a classical Indian dance form which originated in Tamil Nadu India, and is very eminent and prominent world over.A little peek on this dance form; it is one of the oldest of the classical dance forms and is also known as the fifth Veda.Bharatnatyam dance form is accompanied with classical music and it has its inspiration from ancient sculptures.Bharatnatyam as the name suggests is the combination of BHA-Bhava (Expressions), RA-Raaga (Music), TA-Tala (Rhythm).This dance form is known for its grace, purity, tenderness, and sculpturesque poses.

Kathak:Another dance form is Kathak which has originated from Northern India.The name Kathak is derived from the Sanskrit word Katha meaning story and Katthaka in Sanskrit means s/he who tells a story.This dance form was enjoyed in the Mughal Era a lot. This dance form is very expressive and at the same time there is lot of footwork involved. Due to it's linear nature of the passing of knowledge from guru to shishya, certain stylistic and technical features began to develop and became hallmarks of particular school, guru and this was termed as Gharanas. The different popular Gharanas are: Lucknow Gharana, Jaipur Gharana, Benares Gharana and Raighar Gharana.A Kathak performance tends to follow a progression from slow to fast ending with a dramatic climax. A short dance composition is called tukra and a long one is called toda. There are compositions consisting of solely footwork.